Brake-beam.



Patented Ma 9, 1909. 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

7wij 0W R. H. THOMPSON BRAKE BEAM. APPLICATION FILED JULY 24. 1908.

.134: mmms Pzrzns cm, WASHINGTON, u, c.

R. H. THOMPSON.

BRAKE BEAM.

APPLICATION IILED JULY 2 1902.

2 SHEETS-SHEBT 2 Patented Mar. 9, 1909.

ROBERT H. THOMPSON, OF DENVER, COLORADO.

BRAKE-BEAM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented March 9, 1909.

Application filed July 24, 1908. Serial No. 445,162.

T 0 all whom "it may concern:

Be it known that I, ROBERT H. THOMPSON, a citizen of the United States,and resident of Denver, Colorado, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Brake-Beams; and I do hereby declare the following to bea full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as willenable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and usethe same.

This invention relates to integral or solid truss brake beams, in whichthe truss memher is formed from a rolled shape beam having marginalflanges and an intermediate v. eb by slitting the web longitudinallyintermediate its ends and stretching or distending the same to form thetension and compression chord members, said beam being provided with aremovable strut interposed between the chords, said strut comprising amember slotted to embrace the flange and web of one chord member, and aking-post interlocking at one end with said head mem her and having aclevis at the other end to engage the flange and web of the other chordmember, said head member being of a length to admit its being slippedover the end of the brake beam and into proper position on its chordmember, after w hich the king-post is engaged at its clevised end withthe other chord member and slid into locking engagement with the head,so that the strut may be applied or removed from the beam w ithfacility, without the use of special tools and without distorting orinjuring any portion of the beam or the strut.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view of the beamembodying the invention, Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof, Fig. 3 isan enlarged partial plan view, showing the construction and arrangementof the strut, Fig. 4 is a transverse section through the beam at oneside of the strut, Fig. 5 is a side elevation of the head member of thestrut, Fig. 6 is a transverse section through the slotted portion of thestrut adapted to receive the brake lever.

In the drawings, Figs. 1 and 2 represent the invention as involving theuse of a rolled I-beam, although it will be understood that theinvention is not limited to the use of an I-beam in this connection, butis applicable to beams of other shapes involving marginal flanges and anintermediate web, and when hereinafter, the invention is spoken of inconnection with an I-beam, it will be understood that it also embracesother beams having the essential characteristic features of marginalflanges and an intermediate u eb.

In constructing the body of the beam the rolled shape, such as an I-beamis cut to appropriate length and its web slit or divided by alongitudinal kerf intermediate its ends and the sections of the beam oneach side of the kerf are stretched apart or distended to form anintegral or solid truss, having, indicated in Fig. 1, an upper webmember 1, a lower web member 2, an upper marginal flange 3, a lowermarginal flange l, and two end sections 5, in which the original form ofthe rolled shape is preserved, as will be apparent from an inspection ofFig. 1. The upper flange and web portion constitute the compressionchord of the truss, while the lower flange and its associated webportion form the tension chord member, and obvi ously the respectivechord members may be stretched symmetrically to form a diamond shapetruss, the compression chord member may remain straight, while thestretching is applied to the tension member only, or, as indicated inFig. 1, the compression member may be given a slight upward bend at itsmiddle, while the tension member is considerably stretched or distorted.The ends of the truss as thus formed are provided with one or moreperforations 6, by means of which the brake heads, (not illustrated) maybe secured in position. In order to impart the necessary strength andrigidity to the trussed brake beam as thus constructed, there is appliedbetween the chord members a strut 7. It is the general practice to applystruts to trussed brake beams in this particular relation, but as ageneral rule, the struts have been either formed as solid posts, rigidlyand permanently attached to the respective chord members or aslongitudinally divided castings, the sections of which were bolted orriveted together so as to engage one or both of the chord members. Inthe case of the permanently attached struts, it had been foundpractically impossible to remove the strut without damaging it or thetruss itself, and in the case of the sectional struts as heretoforeemployed, considerable difliculty has been experienced in making thestruts strong enough to stand the service to which they are subjected,and in fitting and applying the struts to beams of standard sizes. Thepresent invention contemplates the provision of a strut which willovercome all of these difliculties and which possesses 1 web and flangeof one of the chord members.

In the form of the invention illustrated, the head 8 is applied to thecompression chord member, while the foot of the king-post engages thetension chord member and the opposite end of said king-post isinterlocked with the head 8. The king-post includes a boX-like centralportion 9, which is slotted transversely to receive the brake lever,which is pivoted in said box-like structure by means of a bolt passingthrough registering openings 10, which openings are reinforced by heavymarginal flanges on the outer faces of the portion 9, and said ortion 9is further reinforced by surface 'anges 11, which, toward the ends ofthe box-like portion 9, are given a twist of 40 and merge into a T- head13 at one end, and a clevis or bifurcation 14 at the other end, whichclevis is provided with lateral feet 15, and two upstanding perforatedears 16, which latter serve as the means for supporting the hangingbrake beam. The head portion of the strut comprises a generally T-shapedmember, which is slotted longitudinally and transversely to engage theweb and flange of the compression chord and embrace the same with asubstantially close fit, as indicated in Fig. 4. The forward end of thehead is provided with a second T-shaped slot which is adapted to receivethe T-head 13 on the upper end of the king-post in a manner clearlyillustrated in Fig. 4. The T-head on the king-post and the forward endof the head 8 are provided with registering bolt holes 23 and 12respectively, to receive a bolt to lock the parts together, and in orderto drive the parts up tight and secure an accurate adjustment betweenthe two members of the strut and between the strut and the brake beam,the head 8 is provided with a transverse keyway 30, into which a taperedkey may be driven, which has the effect of forcing head 13 tightly intoengagement with the T-slot in the forward end of head 8, and alsodrawing said head 8 firmly into engagement with the chord member of thebrake beam and forcing the clevised foot of the king-post 7 firmly intoengagement with the flange 4 and web 2 of the tension chord member.

The head member 8 is made of a length which will admit of said headbeing slid over either end of the brake beam, that is to say, thelongitudinal dimension of the head 8 is such that the lower end of saidhead will pass inside of the flange 4 when the end 5 of the brake beamis threaded through the T-shaped slot in said head, and the latter maythen be slid freely along the compression chord member of the beam. Byreason of this particular structural cooperation between the head 8 andthe brake beam, it will be seen that the head may be quickly and easilyapplied to position on the beam, and to apply the entire strut, it isonly necessary to set the king-post in the middle of the truss with itsclevised foot straddling the web of the lower chord member, and thenslide the head along the compression chord member until the T-slot 22therein registers with the T-head 13 on the upper end of the king-post.The two parts may then be driven together with a few taps of a hammer,and the locking bolt applied through registering holes 12 and 23, afterwhich the several parts may be firmly set up by driving a key intokey-way 30.

What I claim as my invention is 1. In a brake beam, the combination of abeam having marginal flanges, and an intermediate web, the web beingslit longitudinally intermediate its ends and stretched or distended toform a solid truss, and a strut interposed between the truss chords,said itriiss, comprising two separate members, one of which surroundsthe flange and web of one chord and is capable of being slipped over theend of the beam and longitudinally along the beam, and the other memberinterlocking with the first and having a bifurcated foot to engage theflange and the web of the opposite chord.

2. In a brake beam, the combination of an I-beam having its web slitlongitudinally intermediate its ends and stretched or distended to forma solid truss, and a strut interposed between the truss chords,saidtruss comprising a T-head slotted to embrace the web and flange ofone chord and being of a length to admit its being slipped over the endof the beam, and a king-post interlocking with said head and having aclevised foot to engage the other chord.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature, in presence of two witnesses.

ROBERT H. THOMPSON.

Witnesses:

JAooB KANZLER, L. P. HEWITT.

